16 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



October 10,' 1922 



Southern Car Supply Unimproved 



Bulletin 



A conference will be held at St. Louis Tuesday, October 10, 

 between representatives of the Southern Hardwood Traffic Associa- 

 tion and the Interstate Commerce Commission to devise ways and 

 means of relieving the very costly and very acute shortage of cars 

 now throttling the hardwood lumber industiTr of the entire south. 

 This conference has been arranged at the earnest solicitation of 

 Frank Camahan, eastern manager of the association, with head- 

 quarters in Washington. S. M. Nickey, president of the associa- 

 tion, states that a strong delegation from Memphis will attend. The 

 commission has also advised Mr. Camahan that efforts will be made 

 to move cars through the Potomac yards into southern territory as 

 a means of furnishing relief to lumber interests. J. H. Townshend, 

 secretary-manager, says that "conditions are frightful as far as 

 cars are concerned." He adds that "some lines have broken down 

 completely and hardwood manufacturers are being supplied with 

 but 15 to 20 per cent of their car needs. ' ' 



Eeplies received by the Southern Hardwood Traffic Association 

 to the questionnaire sent to its members some days ago to ascertain 

 the percentage of cars they were receiving compared with the num- 

 ber actually required for the period from September 1 to September 

 23, inclusive, clearly indicate that there has been no improvement 

 whatever in car supply as touching the southern and eastern hard- 

 wood industry. They show that, with the single exception of the 

 Illinois Central and the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley roads, the 

 shortage is very heavy and that the majority of the lines are fur- 

 nishing only from 2 to 45 per cent of the cars actually ordered for 

 handling outbound shipments. The roads excepted have given 

 very good service and, while there are complaints regarding short- 

 age of cars thereon, these two roads are not included in the tabula- 

 tion, which follows: 



£astside Boads 



Name of railroad — 

 St. L.-S. F. Ry. (East) , 



L. & N. R. R 



Southern Rv 



Mobile & Ohio . . . 

 G., M. & N. R. R.. 

 N. C. & St. L. Ry. 

 G. S. I. R. R 



A. T. & N. R. R.. . 

 Tenn. R. R 



B. & N. W. R. R.. 

 B. & S. W. R. R.. . 

 Miss. Cent 



Number firms 

 reporting 

 . 5 

 . 8 

 .14 

 . 5 

 . 7 

 . 3 

 . 2 

 . 2 

 . 1 

 . 5 

 . 1 

 . 1 



Cars 



ordered 



301 



143 



1,327 



44 

 316 



21 

 359 

 302 

 138 



48 

 100 



40 



Cars 

 furnished 

 IS 

 40 

 155 

 29 

 57 

 15 

 73 



20 

 38 

 10 



Cars 



furnished 



546 



141 



19 



107 



50 



Westside Roads 



Number firms Cars 

 Name of railroad — reporting ordered 



Missouri Pacific R. R 51 2.956 



Frisco (West) 13 933 



St. L. S. W. Ry 5 128 



C, R. I. & P. Ry 7 253 



V. S. & P. Rv.— A. & V 7 .357 



M. & N. A. Ry 7 103 



L. R. & N. Ry 1 46 



T. & P. Rv 1 51 



G. C. & S. F 2 135 



J. L. C. & E 1 5 



St. L. K. & S. E. Ry 1 36 



A. & N. Ry 1 66 



G. & W. Ry 1 83 



H. E. & W. T 1 23 



A. & W. Rv 1 60 



L. & A. Ry 2 50 



No Recent Improvement 



There has been no improvement in the car supply situation since these 

 returns were compiled, according to J. H. Townshend. secretary-manager. 

 However, he anticipates that some relief may be secured from the Inter- 

 state Commerce Commission in the near future. The information already 

 given was presented to this body at Washington, D. C, Thursday, Oct. 5, 

 and Frank Carnahan, eastern manager, with headquarters in the capital, 

 has received advices from the director of car service that the matter will 

 receive early attention. 



The association has gone a step further than showing car shortage. It 

 has gathered data relating to the heavy losses sustained by lumber-carrying 



16 

 46 

 23 



29 



20 

 45 

 14 



Per cent cars 



furnished to 



cars ordered 



6% 



32% 



12% 



66% 



18% 



71% 



20% 



2% 



0% 



43% 



38% 



25% 



Per cent cars 

 furnished to 

 cars ordered 

 1814% 

 15% 

 15% 

 42% 

 14% 

 11% 

 100% 

 45% 

 57% 

 0% 

 0% 

 44% 

 0% 

 90% 

 75% 

 28% 



roads in interchange with roads in the north and east. This indicates that 

 the Illinois Central has lost approximately 20,000 cars since the first of 

 July when the shopmen's strike began, and that other important roads 

 have lost from 350 to nearly 20,000 each. A short time ago the Southern 

 Pine Association and the Southern Hardwood Traflic Association joined 

 hands in an effort to secure a fairer interchange, appreciating the fact that 

 failure of receiving roads to return empties to lumber-carrying lines was 

 largely responsible for the woeful shortage of equipment on the latter. 



Mr. Carnahan is spending practically all of his time In Washington in an 

 effort to secure relief from the Interstate Commerce Commission and the 

 car service division of the American Railway association. In the mean- 

 time, the general offices at Memphis are compiling all the data obtainable 

 regarding the actual situation and is rushing this to Mr, Carnahan in an 

 effort to secure relief. 



Some shippers of southern hardwoods report that they are behind from 

 50 to 150 cars, while others say that they have been forced to discontinue 

 the acceptance of further orders until they have secured cars for shipping 

 out at least a substantial portion of the lumber they have already sold. 

 Perhaps the "hardest luck" story is told by one Memphis lumberman, 

 with mill in Louisiana. He says he has not received a single box car for 

 lumber loading in more than thirty days and, furthermore, that the man- 

 agement of the Missouri Pacific, on which his mill is located, does not hold 

 out promise of any substantial relief. 



The Illinois Central and the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley lines are urging 

 the most hearty co-operation on the part of shippers In loading and un- 

 loading cars within 24 hours and in loading to full capacity. Col. A. H. 

 Egan, superintendent of the latter, says that, owing to the active interest 

 displayed by J. H. Townshend, secretary-manager of the association, the 

 lumbermen are giving 100 per cent efficiency in this direction. 



Asked Not to Reconsign Cars 



The association is urging its members against reconsignlng of cars and 

 intimates that the railroads are considering clamping on a charge of $10 

 per day for each car held at junction points for reconsignment if the prac- 

 tice is not stopped. 



The embargo situation shows considerable improvement. Practically all 

 the embargoes maintained against hardwood lumber and forest products 

 on the part of southern roads have been lifted during the past few days. 

 This applies to both the Southern Railway system and the Louisville & 

 Nashville. Further east, the Chesapeake & Ohio, the Norfolk & Western 

 and the Baltimore & Ohio have likewise removed or greatly modified their 

 embargoes, thus materially relieving the situation in territory served by 

 these lines. Still further east, however, partial or complete embargoes are 

 still maintained by the New York Central, Lehigh Valley, and Delaware, 

 Lackawanna & Western, while the Pennsylvania has instituted an embargo 

 against hardwood lumber and forest products from some of its connections. 



How to Prevent Damage to Wood for Making Vehicles 



Prevention of sap-stain, mold and incipient decay in green wood, particu- 

 larly that used for making vehicles, lies in a combination of remedial 

 factors no one of which is by itself a so%'ereign remedy, declares the United 

 States Department, of Agriculture in a new publication. Department Bul- 

 letin 1037, a professional paper by Nathaniel O. Howard, pathologist. The 

 following factors are pointed out as being especially important : 



Care in the selection of green timber in order to obtain, if possible, 

 material free from fungous infections ; expedition in the movement of the 

 green wood from the felling of the logs to that time in the process of 

 manufacture when it becomes sufficiently dry to resist the attacks of 

 fungi ; provision at all times for ample ventilation of the stock that It 

 may quickly become at least surface dried, thus making it difficult for the 

 fungous spores to obtain from the exposed sapwood the moisture necessary 

 for germination ; the kiln drying of the stock wherever possiljle and when- 

 ever the cost will permit, and In special cases steam treatment or the use 

 of antiseptic dips, followed by proper piling to insure ample ventilation. 



Copies of the bulletin, which is entitled "The Control of Sap Stain, Mold 

 and Incipient Decay in Green Wood with Special Reference to Vehicle 

 Stock," may be had by those interested in the subject upon application to 

 the United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



Blight-Infected Chestnut as Durable as Sound Chestnut 



Service records collected by the U. S. Forest Service indicate that chest- 

 nut posts, poles and ties cut from blight-infected trees are as durable In 

 service as similar timbers cut from healthy trees. Inspections on posts 

 in one locality during eight years of service showed that decay pro- 

 gresses about as rapidly in undiseased posts as In blight-infected posts. 



Bllght-Uilled chestnut should be cut and utilized as soon as possible. 

 Allowing dead trees to check and become infected with decay in the woods 

 shortens the service life of timbers cut from the tree. 



